Digital Government

Mullen says Defense thumb-drive ban to remain in effect for now

But removable storage prohibition complicates efforts of medical personnel in Afghanistan and Iraq to share information on wounded soldiers.

Digital Government

DHS announces departmentwide efficiency review

Secretary Napolitano asks managers to submit reports on ways to reduce costs and streamline processes, with technology likely to be a cornerstone of the effort.

People

Get a Life: Government work is a perk

In this difficult economic time, government work is a job with many benefits, according to commenters.

Ideas

Public Outreach, Warts and All

It's been just three days since Virginia's Democratic Gov. Tim Kaine <a href=http://techinsider.nextgov.com/2009/02/social_networking_the_stimulus.php>launched a Web site</a> soliciting Virginians' ideas about how to spend the economic stimulus money the state may receive. As of Friday afternoon, 1,274 projects (and counting) were posted on <a href=http://stimulus.virginia.gov/> stimulus.virginia.gov</a>.

Cybersecurity

News ticker: NSPS, fixed-price contracting, mid-sized contractors, the Conflicker worm

A roundup of news from around the Web on Feb. 13.

Digital Government

Forget the Exquisite Satellites

That's the message from the thinking man's Marine, General James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who <a href=http://pentagontv.feedroom.com/?fr_story=4bec59f4322f139dfb694c60ece93b65b32b8d99&rf=rss>told a U.S. Chamber of Commerce confab in Washington yesterday</a> that the Defense Department may lose its edge in space because of a policy that has led to slow development of costly satellites.

Modernization

NASA wins Twitter award

Updates about the Mars Phoenix Lander mission won NASA a prize in the science category of the Shorty Awards.

Ideas

Stimulus Bill Fogs Transparency

As I'm writing this post, I'm also trying to download part A of the 500-page conference stimulus bill posted on The House Rules Committee's <a href="http://www.rules.house.gov/">Web site</a> yesterday just before midnight. I've been trying all morning and it looks like it will take at least another 30 minutes to download the 13 megabyte file.

Modernization

OPM cites progress in DOD pay-for-performance system

More data is needed on the National Security Personnel System to gauge its effect on employee recruitment, retention and turnover rates.

People

FCW announces the 2009 Federal 100 award winners

The Federal 100 awards recognize individuals in government and industry who have made significant contributions to the federal information technology community in 2008.

People

Final stimulus bill keeps billions for IT

Major IT programs survived and thrived in the final version of the stimulus bill set to go before the House and Senate later today.

Cybersecurity

E-Verify dropped from stimulus bill

The E-Verify employment verification provisions have been dropped from the final version of the economic stimulus package.

Cybersecurity

Bill would increase reporting on contractors

A House bill would require additional reporting on how intelligence agencies use private contractors.